Clarence j



(No Model.)

0. J. SPIKE & H. V. McLEOD.

FIRE ALARM REGULATOR.

No. 427.711. Patented May 13,1890.

' ma mums PETERS cu FNnTQ-UTHQ, wasHmoTnN, a. r.

UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

CLARENCE J. SPIKE AND HEDLEY V. MOLEOD, OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA, ASSIGNORS OF ONEJIALF TO ARTHUR C. I'IAIVKINS, OF SAME PLACE.

FIRE-ALARM REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,711, dated May 13, 1890.

Application filed November 19, 1889! Serial No. 330,875- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that We, CLARENCE J. SPIKE and I'IEDLEY V. MOLEOD, of Halifax, in the county of Halifax, in the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Alarm Regulators; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accom- 1o panying drawings.

This invention relates to an apparatus by which an alarm or number of alarms can be given automatically from a central station over the whole circuit. It is more especially adapted to be used in a central telephoneoflice, where the operator is on duty day and night, and where, if an alarmof fire is given, it can be sounded on the regulator as if from the box nearest the locality of the fire. Thus connected with the telephone system, it is an advantage in that any number of imaginary boxes could be located where the telephone system extends beyond. the fire-alarm circuit, thus giving a city the advantage of a large 2 5 percentage of additional boxes and of more" definitely locating a fire.

The invention consists in the devices hereinafter described and claimed, to be used for the above-mentioned purposes.

0 In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of our fire-alarm regulator. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a View of the slide-bar, slide, or circuit-breaker detached from the regulator. Fig. l is a view of the slide or cir- 5 cuit-breaker, also detached from the regulator.

a a are two cog-wheels geared together, surmounted by a dial'platc called l). 011 the pinion of the cog-wheel a is placed an index- 0 finger 0.

cl is a cylinder placed in the lower portion of the framework, surrounding the whole mechanism of the regulator. At one end of this cylinder and on its axis is placed a train 5 of wheels 6 c e" to retard its motion in revolving. In the other end of this cylinder is placed a spring f, which can be wound up by means of the projectinghandlc f, in order to give motion to such cylinder.

9 is a connecting-lever, the upper end of which is secured to the crank-pin 72. on gearwheel a. Its lower end is slotted and is secured to the pin 2' on the slide and circuitbreaker-j. This slide 7' has motion along an insulated bar 76 by means of the sleeve Ztraversing said bar. The connecting-lever g is slotted a little above its central portion, so as to permit of its having sufficient adjustable motion 011 the fulcrum-pin m.

n is a large cog-wheel geared to a cog on the axis of the cylinder d. It has four times as many teeth as the cog-wheel to which itis geared on the shaft of such cylinder. Through this wheel, near its periphery, is a hole 0.

p is a hooked rod attached to the shank of a push-button 13'. On the body of this red, at q, is placed a spiral. spring, so as to cause the hooked end of the rod 19 to engage with the hole in the cog-wheel 7%, thus keeping the wheel a locked, excepting when the pnsh-but- 7c ton 13 releases it, and thereby permits of this cog-wheel it making one entire revolution before it is again locked.

The bar k is placed on pillars 7t it, which pillars are insulated at their base by indiarubber or other suitable material. On the cylinder cl are projecting pins 0' r, suitably arranged and so spaced as to correspond with the numbers marked on the dial 1), and con taining the necessary pauses. These metallic pins can be introduced in the cylinder in the usual manner-namely, by drilling holes and driving the pins in firm, leaving a sufficient projection beyond the face or periphery of the cylinder to operate on the end j of a slide or circuit-breakerj. The slide j is pivoted at s to the sleeve Z on the bar. A short bent arm t projects from the underneath portion of the slide j, in the bifurcated end of which is placed horizontally a small wheel 25. 0 A spring a is attached at the lower side of the slide to the sleeve 1, pressing upward against the lower portion of the arm 25, so as to bring the wheel 25' into contact with the frame of the regulator after each depression 5 tached to one of the posts of the insulated roll in, the other, n, being connected to the metallic case or back of the regulator. It will thus be seen that when the small wheel t is in contact with the metallic ease of the regulator, the arm of the slide j being in its normal position, the current will pass from wires 1; '0' across the arm j of the slide. Whenever the arm j is depressed by the points 1" r, &c., on the cylinder d, the wheel i will be thrown out of contact with the metallic case or wall of the regulator, and the current will then be interrupted or broken.

On the dial is shown a series of numbers up to 32. Any other series of numbers can, however, be adopted, the projecting points 7 r, &c., on the periphery of the cylinder d be ing made to accord therewith. The enlarged portion of the index-finger 0, near the point, may be provided with a spring-bolt to, which engages with holes w, &c., in order to keep said index-finger in position when set.

The operation of the device is as follows: The index-finger c is moved to any number on the dial representing the district or block where the fire is known to be. This rotates the cog-wheels a a, which in turn causes the arm g to shift the slide j along the insulated bar 70 until it reaches and is in line with a corresponding row of projecting pins on the cylinder 01'. The regulator is then. in a position by which a signal can be sent to any number of stations in the circuit. The pushbutton 19 is then pressed, on which is released the hooked end 19 from the hole 0 in the cog- Wheel 71. Thus released, the cylinder (1 will rotate four times before the hooked end 19 will arrest the movement of the cog-wheel 11. As it rotates, the projecting pins 1' r, &c., will depress the end j of the slidej, such end being insulated with rubber, and thus break the contact of the wheel t with the case of the regulator, causing a break in the circuit-wire, and the number of breaks will determine the signal to be given, which will correspond with the number at which the index 0 points on the dial 1). The connection is here broken and the alarm sounded, as will be seen by the moving arm j, insulated at its end j, acting as a circuit-breaker. The circuit is thus opened and closed. The cylinder (Z rotating thus four times on every pushing in of the push-button p, it is evident that four distinct alarms will be given. The hooked end 19, being locked into the hole 0 of the cog-wheel 'n, terminates the revolution of the cylinder d, so that if the alarm is to be repeated the push-button 1) must be again operated. Itis evident that the train 6 ee serves to reduce the motion of the cylinder (1. It is also evident that instead of four any other series of alarms may be arranged for by making the necessary change in the train of wheels. In the operation ofthe device from the central office, the location in which the fire occurs being telephoned to the central station, the person in charge merely sets the index-finger to the number of block, or Ward, or district and presses in the push-button p, when the instrument will be set in motion (the spring of the cylinder (Z being wound up by its winding mechanism) and the series of alarms will be instantly sounded over the whole circuit.

lVe claim- 1. In an electric tire-alarm regulator, the combination ofa dial-plate and its index-arm, connected by the cog-wheels ac and lever g to a bar 7a, with the cylinder containing a series of pins or other corresponding signals indicating an alarm, and with means for transmitting such signals automatically, substantially as described.

2. In an electric fire-alarn1 regulator, the combination of a dial-plate b and index-arm c, cog-wheels ct a, arm g, connected to slide j, and insulated bar It, with the cylinder (1-, its train of wheels, and the push-button p and its mechanism, substantially as described.

3. In an electric fire-alarm regulator, the circuit-breakerj, traveling on an insulated bar 76 and arranged between the cylinder at and the frame of the regulator, in combina tion with the cylinder and frame, substantially as described.

4. In an electric fire-alarm regulator, the circuit-breaker j, hinged to a sleeve Z and traveling onthe insulated bar it, so as to be operated upon by the projections of the cylinder (Z, in combination with the cylinder d and its pins 1' r, substantially as described.

CLARENCE J. SPIKE. HEDLEY V. MCLEOD.

Witnesses:

A. W. STURNEY, PETER CUMMINs. 

